


Surprise

by Oneofthree



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha Steve Rogers, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Male omegas are intersex, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Multi, Omega Tony Stark, Possessive Steve Rogers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Updating tags as I go, bratty tony, for babies ya know, it just makes more sense to me, omegas comfortable in gender neutral clothing, slower updates, sorry if that is not your thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:26:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23387341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oneofthree/pseuds/Oneofthree
Summary: Tony knows that something like an arranged marriage would happen to him eventually, like it does to all omegas. He also knew that it would happen because of Howard. The fact that he’d be unwanted shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 131
Kudos: 1186





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! This is my first ever fanfic inspired by quarantine boredom. I hope it isn’t terrible to read and that if you have it you’d be able to drop some encouragement, polite criticism of my grammar/style, and some suggestions for how the story progresses. I’m kinda a ghost on tumblr but if you wanna drop an ask there about this, then I’m oneofthree there as well.

Tony prayed to gods he had no hope in that this wasn’t happening.  
  
His father sold him off to the highest bidder to avoid the punishment he so rightly deserved for his actions. Selling faulty, discarded weapons to benefit the Stark family was bound to bite Howard on the ass eventually. Of course, Tony was taking the bite for him.  
  
“Please, mamma I don’t want to go!” Tony begged his mother,

“Make them reconsider, you know that I won’t be happy there.”  
  
His room was being ransacked by soldiers, the group efficiently packing things away to take to his new home. Of course Tony was grateful that he even got to have his possessions brought with him, but it was just another violation in his personal space that was piling up to make him wildly uncomfortable. Tony was ready to jump out of his skin. He was ready to vomit just at the sight of the blankets and pillows of his nest being touched and shoved into crates for the long journey ahead of him. The soldiers’ alpha and beta scents were flying around and the comfortable mix of himself and his family was being completely thrown off.  
  
Tony didn’t know what was more insulting, being sold off to some unknown knothead prince, or the fact that said knothead hadn’t come to get his prize himself. It figured, Tony thought, he was unwanted everywhere if even his buyer wasn’t willing to make the journey to meet him. Tony dreaded meeting his future alpha, afraid that he was going to be treated like a new toy being shipped from somewhere exotic and all interest would quickly be lost when he didn’t meet expectations.  
  
“Tony, you’d be unhappy with any situation if it didn’t involve your freedom. I’m sorry I can’t do anything to change this but I’ll write to you often. I love you baby.” Maria whispered to Tony, stepping away from him to allow the soldiers to take him aboard the carriage.  
  
He could hardly believe his mother’s compliance in this. Here Tony was, being shipped off to live with someone he’s never met, to be the consort to the neighboring kingdom’s future king and his mother still plays the dutiful omega, bending to Howard’s will. Her love for him seemed shallow in the injustice that foisting him off on another family was.  
  
“C’mon omega, we gotta get moving if we’re going to make it to your wedding in time. Gotta get you fitted for your wedding night.” A tall, blonde alpha soldier came and grabbed his arm to lead him away. Tony couldn’t help but let out a little growl at the contact, already on edge from his nest being moved and the blatant disregard for his person being traded away for his father’s sake.  
  
The big soldier chuckled at his weak attempt at sounding tough and dragged him along, gently lifting him into the carriage. Tony curled in on himself once he was settled inside. He was happy to be out of all of the activity, able to comfort himself somewhat with a blanket he grabbed from his nest before the moving party burst in to haul him away. Tony could hear the soldiers laughing and moving around outside, getting ready to move out and away from his life and everything that he knew. It was hilarious, Tony thought bitterly, being forced out of his life to be taken by some spoiled, entitled alpha was absolutely the funniest thing in the entire world. He heard enough of the alphas talking before to know that they're making fun of his misfortune. A little virgin omega being carted away to the big bad alpha to be filled full of babies for the rest of his life, what a fantastic fairy tale to tell his children. Tony shivered at the thought, at being treated like his mother the rest of his life. Maria was loved, and Howard seemed to treasure her, but she was given nothing important to do and it seemed she wasn’t really all that respected because she’d only had an omega son.  
  
“Those assoholes aren’t going to stand a chance I can tell you that much right now, Barton. I give it like two days before they’re completely wrapped around that little omega’s finger.” A laughing voice came from outside.  
  
“Blow it out your ass, Wilson. Those idiots aren’t going to last twenty minutes under those doe eyes. I’m half in love with him already and I haven’t even shared a word with the little thing.”  
  
“You horny beta, you’re in love with every pretty omega you see. Let’s move out before we’re late and we have to explain to Winifred why her new omega child was later than she wanted.” The red headed female alpha silenced the male soldiers with her order to move out, stopping, or pausing, the bickering on how long the aforementioned ‘assholes’ would last under his supposed omega charms.  
  
He’d be having multiple alphas? It made sense that no one would think to mention that to Tony before he was being shipped off. Dear lord, he’d be having to deal with twice the testosterone and babies a mated alpha pair would bring him.  
  
Resigned to be the laughing stock or gossip fodder for the remainder of the trip, Tony snuggled further underneath his blanket and tried to take a nap to pass the time. His attempts didn’t really work out however. With him being too worked up at the quick removal from his home and the distinct lack of comfort that his nest provided him, Tony mostly just laid on the carriage bench with his eyes closed, hoping for sleep or for all of this to be some horrible dream. He eventually gave up on sleep and watched the countryside move around him, noting all of the familiar places he wouldn’t be able to go back to once he was mated.  
  
Tony wished he was brave enough to escape the soldiers and go start a new life away from all of this. He’d be able to hide out with Ana and Jarvis for a few days and make his own weapons and little inventions for the rest of his life. He’d be recognized for his own talents, not for the potential children he’d be able to provide some alphas. But Tony couldn’t bear to do that to his mother. Howard would be thrown in prison for the rest of his life and even though he wasn’t the most doting father, he loved Maria and she wasn’t the type of omega who wanted to live all by herself. Tony could hear his mother scolding him for his fantasy, for being selfish and condemning his father to prison to be happy.  
  
Some time later, when the sun dipped behind some faraway mountains, he heard the moving party signal to stop and rest for the evening. There were several shouts for someone to start a fire and get some food cooking. Despite the sick, anxious feeling in Tony’s stomach, when the smell of food started wafting around the impromptu camp site, he felt his mouth water. Sharp knocking on the door startled Tony out of his contemplation.  
  
“Oy omega come get your sweet little butt out here for some food! Can’t have you wasting away in there.” a gruff voice shouted from the other side.  
  
“Clint, you dick, don’t scare him.” The door was then pulled open to reveal a male alpha and beta. Both of them seemed kind enough, despite their remarks about his butt throughout the trip, so Tony gave them a small smile and slowly left the safety of the carriage to go sit and get some food.  
  
Tony was introduced to Natasha, Sam, Clint, and Thor, finally learning his escorts’ names after several hours on the road. Clint and Sam seemed to have a lot of opinions on Tony’s looks, which were overall pretty flattering, but the attention was a little unwanted. He was grateful for Natasha and Thor’s frequent intervention in their conversation, allowing him to ask some questions about his soon to be husbands.  
  
“Oh yeah, Steve and Bucky. They’re gonna love you man. Pretty sure you hit every box on Steve's type list and Buck ain't exactly picky.” Clint proclaimed through a mouthful of bread.  
  
“That’s a subtle way of calling Buck-o a man-whore, Clint. Better be careful what you say around him. You never know what he’s gonna tell those two about this trip.” Sam butted in, not exactly upset at a perceived insult to Bucky. He looked more giddy to call Bucky a whore than he was worried that Clint would get in trouble.  
  
“Sam, we're well aware of your little knot measuring contest with the Buckster, don’t gotta call him a whore in front of his new mate when it should be Steve he worries about.” She turned to Tony then, “That alpha is the walking definition of a knothead, so you better watch your cute backside around that horndog, sweetheart.” Natasha cackled.  
  
Tony could feel his eyes go wide at the group’s unprofessionalism. The comfortable banter and possibility of friendship with these people was a welcome surprise. Tony wasn’t as concerned living with Steve and Bucky if they allowed their subordinates to speak about them this way without fear of retribution. But he was an omega, so Tony should probably still watch what he says until he really knows where he stands with them. From past experience, Tony wouldn’t get the privilege to speak as freely as the alphas and beta with him.  
  
“What made them choose me? I mean I’m not exactly fit for royalty being the child of some weapons idiot. My family doesn’t even have a title beyond the forgery.” Tony was hoping his less than royal standing would free him from this, make the soldiers realize a mistake and return him to his home.  
  
“Oh they actually have no idea that you're coming. They’ve been fighting getting an omega mate for years now and the Queen is fed up with them. Two mated alphas can be good for a kingdom’s strength and all that, but they lack the equipment to give her and Lady Rogers the grandchildren they have in mind.” Sam said as if being a surprise wasn’t going to cause some sort of upset with the mated royal alpha couple. “You’re a little famous anyways, omega. A blacksmith isn’t exactly a traditional profession for you to have. With your father being under fire, your family caught attention. The King and Queen thought you’d be tough enough to stand up against their hard headed children and knock them down a few pegs. All those royal omegas have been run off by their crassness, but you being a commoner makes you less susceptible to fainting at a dirty word.”  
  
Tony was shocked to say the least. Being picked over some beautiful, worthy omega for the title of royal omega because his father got caught, and not having the prince and his mate even know he was coming was something Tony could feel would end terribly. He basked in the comfortable atmosphere the group had for the remainder of their dinner and resigned himself to a sleepless night panicking over how his surprise meeting with future husbands would go.  
  
“Wait!” Tony was slightly startled by Thor’s calling out to him, “Before you go, little omega, I thought you might like this.”  
  
Tony took the crate that Thor brought over to him and was quietly delighted at the blankets from his nest inside. “Thank you Thor. It’s very kind of you to let me have part of my nest with me.”  
  
“It will make you more comfortable, I’m sure. Sleep well.” Thor made his way over to the tents that had been set up by Clint and Tony quickly went about setting up a nest inside the carriage to make himself somewhat more comfortable for the night. Even if he still couldn’t sleep with the worry hanging over his head, Tony was still thankful for any extra comfort he could get at this time. Tony could only hope at this point that his new alphas wouldn’t be too upset meeting him. Neither of them had a choice but Tony was definitely going to be one with the short end of the stick if things went wrong.  
  
Or, more wrong than they already were.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left comments and kudos! It's pretty cool to actually see people like the stuff I make up. I apologize for the slow update but I started up online classes right when I posted Chapter 1 and was struggling with how to finish this chapter off. I can't really promise fast and regular updates but thank you for being patient and enjoying what I wrote!

It was a long and terrible night just like Tony predicted it would be. He couldn’t sleep, no matter how exhausted he was and how much he wanted to, it was seemingly impossible to drift off. All he could think about was his father putting him in this situation and what the King and Queen were thinking just springing this on their princes. Tony knows that he’d be a baby maker and beyond that, he wouldn’t be important. He’d be trapped, being resented by his husbands but hopefully, they’d love his children. 

Tony watched the sun rise and listened to the little cheerful songs of the birds who had also noticed the morning was approaching. The occasional out of place squawk of a larger bird ruined the little melodies, but Tony thought that it was fitting with his mood. This whole mess was just a big bird coming to shit all over him. The sun climbed a little higher in the sky, making a beautiful pink and orange color scheme that seemed to tint everything a little rosy. He could hear some stirring around the camp several minutes later, the others were beginning to wake up and break down the camp to continue the journey towards the disaster that would be meeting his alphas. To have an omega suddenly show up and your mother saying “get married, you don’t have a choice” while you’re already mated was bound to upset any sane person ever. No matter how reassuring Sam and Clint had been last night about Steve and Bucky being smitten with him, Tony knew they were not going to take well to him. 

“Rise and shine pretty omega! We got some breakfast for you before we head out.” Natasha’s voice was far too cheery for this early in the morning and for Tony’s attitude. 

Tony untangled himself from all of his blankets and made his way towards where Natasha and Thor were eating. Sam and Clint were packing away the tents and getting the horses taken care of. In typical Sam and Clint fashion, they seemed to be bickering over something. Tony watched them rush around while picking at the food Natasha had given him, surprised at how efficient they actually were. 

“Are you alright Tony? You seem unwell.” Thor’s kind tone caught Tony off guard. He really didn’t expect this much kindness from these people and it might be the last he’d see for a while considering who’d he be living with. 

“I’m nervous. This whole thing is a terrible idea on the King and Queen’s part and I can’t help but feel the princes are going to hate me for ruining their happy marriage.” Tony felt like he was going to cry, he’s exhausted and scared and so angry at his father for putting him into this stupid situation. His whimpery voice accompanied with his likely haggard appearance was painting the perfect picture of an emotional omega needing an alpha to comfort them and his lack of sleep was really not helping.

“Oh don’t start that, darling. You may come as a shock but I know just how much those alphas are going to adore you.” Clint was obviously trying to be comforting, but it was falling about a mile short of the mark. 

The rest of breakfast saw a sulking omega barely listening to Sam and Clint’s fawning attempts at cheering him up. Tony wasn’t sure if he appreciated their efforts, or wanted to stuff some of the moss that was on the ground next to him in their mouths to get some peace and quiet. He was considering option number two before Natasha, ever his savior on this trip, broke them up so they could get moving again. 

“I won’t lie to you, Tony. It’s going to take a while for Steve and Bucky to get used to you, but they’re not cruel alphas. You’ll be okay, just rest as much as you can before we get to the castle. Hopefully we’ll get there before dinner.” Natasha was probably the sanest person out here, she seemed to be the only one who knew how this would end and was probably lying to make him feel better. 

Tony bid a hasty retreat to his little carriage nest and buried himself back into all of the blankets, praying for some sleep. His prayers went unanswered however, and Tony was left to sulk even more throughout the day as they took limited breaks to make it to the castle in the time-frame they were supposed to. Tony’s scent was turning sour all day with his anxiety and exhaustion, which was just the icing on this fucked up cake as his first impression was definitely going to be ruined by his obvious displeasure. 

The little group traveled all day, just barely making it to the castle before it became completely dark outside. Tony had packed up his blankets when the castle came into view because he knew that he wouldn’t get to keep them with him meeting the King and Queen, but he wished for the comfort of them as they got closer to the gates and some people waiting for them became more visible. 

Natasha, Sam, Clint, and Thor’s demeanor became a lot more stoic and professional as they stopped in the courtyard outside of the castle. Tony was a little intimidated by them silently unloading the boxes of his things onto some servants, who seemed to know exactly where to take them. Thor came up to the carriage door and with a surprising gentleness for his size, helped Tony out and took the box containing his nest blankets away. Tony was left with just Natasha and three other people who did not appear to be servants. In fact, they looked far more royal and sophisticated than Tony had ever seen a person before. 

“Oh what a darling little omega! How are you honey, you missed dinner, you must be famished, let’s get you fed and more comfortable, poor little dear.” a shorter, brunette omega woman instantly crowded him along with a blonde omega woman. The pair seemed insistent on checking him for injury or upset, and Tony was getting a little overwhelmed at the motherly attention. 

“Winnie, sweetheart, you’ve not even introduced yourself to him yet quit fussing with the poor child. Sarah, honestly, it’s like you haven’t been fussing with Rebecca all day, quit it, you’re not starved for mothering something.” A tall alpha chuckled over at the scene they must’ve made, with the omega ladies now purring at him while messing around with his hair that had gotten all fluffy from rolling in his blankets. 

“Oh shush, George. I’ve been waiting for an omega child in law for nearly five years at this point, let me fuss.” the blonde omega snapped. However her biting tone was completely undermined by the doting look and purr she was displaying to Tony. 

Natasha looked near tears she was trying so hard not to laugh at Tony in the middle of the mothering. “Anthony Edward Stark, I present to you Queen Winifred Barnes at your left, Lady Sarah Rogers at your right, and King George Barnes at a safe distance from the omegas.” Tony let out a little hysterical giggle at Natasha’s introduction. Even though he was in the midst of actual royalty, the soothing purrs of the omegas were really starting to relax him, he felt near collapsing into sleep at their attention. 

“Yes I do think it’s smart to stay away from them until they get their fill, Natasha. I fear maiming at the hands of two mother bears protecting their baby.” the King snarked, pointing the mother bear comment at the still purring and fussing omegas. Tony was starting to feel like he was in the middle of a nurturing piranha attack. 

“Watch your tone with me, George. Now let’s get you settled in, sweet boy.” the Queen’s rapid switch from a snarl at her husband to a purr to Tony nearly gave him whiplash, but time to process this insane conversation was taken away from him as the omegas began tugging him towards the castle, telling him all about how they were going to take care of him, don’t you worry. 

The royal group, plus Tony, seemed to breeze through the castle until they came to a set of chambers that smelled like the soft, floral Queen and woodsy, warm King. Tony was ushered to a large bathing chamber while the omegas gathered clothing, soap, and towels for him to get cleaned up with. Lady Sarah drew him a steaming bath and they both left Tony to wash with calls urging him to take his time and promises of dinner. Dazed, Tony followed their directions, and probably spent way too long luxuriating in the bath with the expensive soaps and relaxing in the warm water. Tony eventually dragged his newly wrinkly self out of the bath to get changed into the clothes the Queen gave him. The overwhelming scent of  _ alpha _ washed over Tony as soon as he slipped the too large shirt over his head. He then probably spent way too long inhaling the delicious scent of spicy, clean alpha that covered the shirt and pants that were meant to be his sleep clothes provided by the queen. If this was the scent of the prince, Tony’s omega brain thought, then he was fine with this whole marriage after all. 

After even more inhaling of the rich, expensive scents of the soap and clothing, Tony tentatively poked his head out into the main chamber. The King, Queen, and Lady Rogers were all settled on plush chairs with some very delicious looking food on the table next to them. As if having a sixth sense for younger omegas in need of food and love, the Queen and Lady Rogers’ heads swiveled over to where Tony was peaking at them and immediately called him to them. He was then settled in between the two omegas, and nearly melted at the purring that started up again. Tony was sure he probably still had an anxious scent about him, and the omegas were doing a very good job at soothing him. 

“Go ahead and eat, Anthony. We’re going to have to discuss many things, but it can wait for you to get some food and relax a bit more.” the King, for as large an alpha he was, was very good at making himself seem safe and approachable. Tony thought of Thor and figured that this kingdom’s alphas must have some sort of superpower in soothing obviously jumpy omegas. 

Tony wasted no time into digging into the fruit and then the meat that was set out for him. It might’ve been the best food he had ever eaten. Tony wondered briefly what his mother might say if she knew he was thinking that, it’s probably for the best that he belongs to another family now, he wouldn’t survive the rejection of his mother’s cooking. Upon finishing eating, Tony was starting to feel the dread of this whole situation reappear. He did not want to talk about any of what was going to happen, he wanted to go home and avoid princely alphas forever, betrayal to his mother’s food and Howard’s jail sentence be damned. 

“Thank you for bringing me here your majesties. I am truly humbled to be chosen to be the consort of the future King. I will do my best to not be a disappointment.” Tony could feel himself die inside at the sweet, simpering tone he was using. He, more than anything, wanted to curse these people for ruining his and their princes’ lives by meddling in their decisions. 

“Oh don’t even try to pull that on us Anthony.” Lady Rogers’ tone suggested she was a mind reader and obviously she heard the unfortunate things he was thinking about them, “We’re fully aware that this is going to be terribly uncomfortable for you and those boys of ours. For the sake of the kingdom we needed them to have an omega at some point and they were too stubborn to agree to our terms. I admire your ability to cover up your disdain for this, though it is unnecessary. You can speak plainly my dear.” 

Tony forgot himself in his ire and blurted, “Oh fantastic, I’m to be the future King’s whore and I’ll be hated by his mate for ruining their happy arrangement but at least I can speak plainly.” 

Tony promptly turned bright red and covered his face at both the rude tone and words. This is how he dies, disrespecting a Lady of the court within an hour of meeting her with the witness of the King and Queen to behold his mistake. The King’s loud guffaws were proof that he’s dead and his wedding date would soon be his execution. 

“Oh my dear boy, I knew there was a reason we would have luck with a blacksmith as the omega for James and Steven. You’re certainly not as afraid of us or them as any royal omega we’ve ever met.”

“You’re far more sturdy too, the other prospects were far too thin to make strong babies. You’ve got good hips on you darling.” 

Tony was sure he was hallucinating, the King and Queen were complimenting him? After what he just said? His shock was written all over his body and he thought he might just faint at the absurdity of it all. 

“Anthony.” Lady Rogers put her hand on his shoulder, comforting him, “ You don’t need to fear punishment from us. You are going to be our child in law, you’re our family and you can speak to us about whatever you like. We’re glad to hear that this experience hasn’t frightened you into being something you’re not. You’re not a fragile little thing that’s been raised in high court having nothing to do with the real world, that’s why you’re a good match for James and Steven. I’m afraid I was too lenient with my boy on the prospect of marriage and I’m terribly sorry it had to come to this. But please know that you have nothing to fear from us or them. I guarantee that you’ll be safe.” 

Tony allowed the fact that he wasn’t about to be executed to sink in while the Queen moved his empty plates around. She stood up and beckoned him to follow her to a door within her chambers.

“It’s getting far too late for us to continue, Anthony. We’ll have you meet your alphas tomorrow morning after breakfast. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to be ready for a temper tantrum and wedding preparations so I hope you can get some rest. Come, come you’ll be sleeping in our guest rooms and we’ll move you in with your alphas after the wedding.”

Tony walked over to the door and was once again amazed at the luxury he would be staying in. The rich colors of everything matched the overall cozy feeling of the royal chambers and despite all the nervousness he still felt, the warm, soft bed, the scent of alpha all over his clothing, and his full stomach combined to finally, allow him to drift off and sleep. 


	3. Chapter 3

Tony woke to the feeling of someone gently scraping their fingers across his scalp. The gentle treatment went on for quite some time as he continued to doze in the guest room bed. Tony was helpless to let out a content purr as the mystery person tucked more blankets around him and continued their scratching. Tony thought of the fat cat Jarvis was fond of and the way it melted under anyone’s touch, he figured he was doing a pretty good impression at the moment. 

Tony probably would have drifted back off to sleep if it were not for the sound of a door being slammed open and a whiny voice, “Aunt Sarah! You were sent to wake Jimmy’s new wife practically an hour ago! What on Earth are you doing?”

Tony jumped a bit and his eyes flew open and then immediately shut again to protect them from the blinding light of the morning. The hand that must’ve belonged to Lady Rogers went to cup his forehead and rubbed in between his furrowed brows to soothe him, he couldn't help but to relax under her touch.

“Rebecca, honestly you don’t need to shout! I wanted to wake him gently, he doesn’t need to start this day with any drama considering what is going to happen later today. Go bother your parents, I’m sure they’ve not gotten out of bed yet either.” Lady Rogers’ voice was stern and motherly, Tony curled up on himself, imagining all of the times he deserved that voice from his own mother and the sense of dread that came over him.

“Oh come on Auntie Sarah! I’ve not had a new omega friend to hang out with in ages! I wanted to meet my new brother in law. Besides! My parents asked me to fetch you, the food is getting cold! Wake up sleeping beauty and let’s go!” with that, the source of the voice skipped out into the main chambers.

“I’m sorry about that darling, You were so peaceful, I wanted to make sure you remained that way for a while longer. Let’s get up now and get you some breakfast, we’re going to have to get you dressed to meet your alphas after so fill up good.” Lady Rogers tugged him upwards, out of his warm blankets and chuckled at his pathetic whine. Tony was soon comforted by her placing a warm robe over him, one again coated in delicious alpha scent.

Tony buried his nose in the soft fabric and took a deep breath in, taking in the layered scent of rain, smoke, and spice. Tony once again opened his eyes, more cautiously to avoid blinding himself, to see Lady Rogers giving him a fond smile. He blushed in embarrassment at his little display with the robe and dutifully followed her out into the Royal chambers when she tugged him out of the bed. Tony wondered how they managed to sneak obviously well loved clothing away from the alpha princes to give them to him. Hopefully, the apparent plan to make Tony smell like he belonged to the princes would make the meeting go smoother. Tony kept his nose tucked into the robe until he was seated in front of a large plate of pastry and fruit, the scent of food quickly overtook the scent of alpha and he was glad to get his hands on the feast in front of him. 

“Oh dear lord! How on Earth are you going to subject this poor omega to Jimmy and Steve? Look at him! He’s too pretty for the both of them!” Tony was startled out of taking a bite of a beautifully crisp looking apple by a brunette omega seated beside the Queen. She looked properly dismayed to go with her scandalized tone and then was quietly outraged as the Queen gently smacked her to get her to be quiet. 

The King and Lady Rogers must've found her statement amusing as they quickly burst into loud cackles and snorts. They were egged on by the omega saying “Well it’s true, the poor man is going to be wed to a couple of trolls! Mother, you can hardly get them to comb their hair!” The laughter continued on for some time as the Queen and the omega continued to fuss at each other. The omega adamant about Tony being too good for the princes and the Queen urging her to stop her nonsense and eat. Tony watched all of this while going back to his breakfast, quietly sneaking bits of food off of the other’s plates as they were distracted. He knew he might get in trouble, however everyone had such good looking things and he was so tempted to try each of them. Tony also doubted he would get into serious trouble. He had spent a bit of time pondering the greeting he had received the night before and figured he had much more power in this situation than he had previously thought. Tony was seemingly their last chance to get an heir out of the crown princes. He also seemed to have charmed the Royal omegas simply by being the sweet little thing for them to take care of and dote on the night before. Tony was sure he would be able to get away with a lot, and he figured it was time to test what. Tony was so fond of testing things after all. 

“Oy get your little thieving hands out of my breakfast, son! Honestly just ask if you want to try something. Opportunistic thing aren’t you? Got me while we were distracted.” The King had noticed Tony reaching into his plate with his fork to snatch a bit of omelette and, still laughing, moved his hand away while also scooping some of the omelette in question onto Tony’s plate for him to try. Tony grinned in triumph of not only getting what he wanted, he also wasn’t even scolded for being naughty in front of the King. Tony was then given a lot of different foods off of the other’s plates as they suggested things for him to try. Tony knew then that he would be able to be a total brat around the King, Queen, and Lady Rogers and not only get away with it, but also be doted on. His smile got wider as he thanked the others for their food and filed away his findings for when he wanted to work in the royal forge after the wedding preparations. 

True to Lady Rogers’ word, after breakfast Tony was rushed into the guest room again to be surrounded by ladies in waiting to get him ready to meet his alphas. His hair was dampened with a bit of water to allow it to curl up around his ears and he had khol applied to his eyes to make them look even larger and more liquid. The flat, delicate shoes on his feet were a far cry from his sturdy boots he used in the forge at home, Tony made another mental note to get some supplies to actually be able to work in the forge. He was fitted with a lot of fine gold jewelry on his wrists, neck, and a delicate circle on his head. The dress that was then fitted to him was of course the center of his look. The deep red fabric clung to Tony’s hips and fell to around his feet, he hoped he wouldn’t trip.Tony blushed at all of the compliments he was given by the ladies and the excitement of the Queen and Lady Rogers over his finished look. 

The rest of the Royal family finished their getting ready and they made their way towards the throne room for Tony to be officially introduced to his intended alphas. While walking and waiting, Tony was officially introduced to the omega that had woken him up as the princess Rebecca Barnes, the little sister of the prince. She was a year older than him at twenty-two years of age and was very forthcoming about embarrassing things James and Steven had done over their twenty-six years of life. Tony was very prepared to bring those things up at a later date and pretend he wasn’t aware of their embarrassing nature. Despite still being nervous about what was about to happen, Tony had relaxed a considerable amount as he sat next to Rebecca, giggling over various things having to do with the princes. He almost missed the entrance of two, very attractive, very muscular, very princely alphas entering the room as they talked. 

“Good morning everyone! Can anyone explain to me why exactly we were told to dress nicely and meet you here after breakfast? We’re not meeting anyone important today are we?” The brunet alpha was the first to greet the Royal family, warmly hugging both the Queen and Lady Rogers, closely followed by the blond alpha. Tony was a little stunned at how beautiful the two alphas were together, they were both the picture of big healthy alpha, but had opposite energies and looks. The brunet alpha was calm and sturdy. His thighs were a prominent feature, Tony couldn’t help dragging his eyes over the alpha’s body. The blond alpha in contrast to the brunet’s calm, seemed more volatile. While the blond was definitely kind, he had this energy about him as if he were constantly poised and ready to fight if the situation came to it. Tony was definitely appreciating the fact they had yet to notice him to stare at their frames and take in information about them. 

Rebecca noticed Tony’s wandering eyes and laughed at him, which of course drew the attention of everyone in the room. The King held out his hand for Tony, beckoning for him to come over to officially start the disaster of meeting his future husbands. As gracefully as he could, Tony sauntered over to the King and faced the two princes. 

“My boys. I would like to introduce you to Anthony Stark. He is to be your omega, we will have more time to discuss the details at dinner tonight, take this day to get to know each other a bit more before the wedding. Be kind.” The King’s tone left absolutely no room for argument as he introduced Tony. Tony watched the surprise on the pair’s face as he was labeled as their future wife, but surprisingly there was a lack of anger that he was expecting. 

To Tony’s surprise the alphas smiled at him, the brunet even went as far to take his hand and give it a gentle kiss at the back of it while he introduced himself as James Barnes. The blond alpha didn’t kiss his hand, but he did gently grasp it while introducing himself as Steven Rogers. Tony could feel himself flush at the attention he was getting from two sets of piercing blue eyes. He tried to maintain his composure as he smiled up at the two alphas. They seemed to be willing to be nice while their parents were in the room, but they were beginning to leave to give them some privacy, so the real test of their feelings was starting to begin. Tony was relieved to see Natasha at the edge of the room, obviously there to keep an unobtrusive watch over their meeting. 

“Well I have to say, sugar, you are definitely the prettiest damn omega they’ve tried to get us to marry. What family are you from again? I can admit I’ve never heard of a Stark being on the court.” James had a certain air about him as he spoke to Tony. Almost as if he knew his flirting and language would not be tolerated by any omega of the court and he was expecting a fuss. Unfortunately for him, Tony had heard this type of flirting and worse since he was sixteen working at the forge, he was well used to it by now. 

Tony allowed himself to relax more knowing that Natasha was in the room to rescue him if he overstepped and smirked up at the huge alpha, “Why thank you. You and your mate certainly aren’t the worst alphas I’ve ever seen, but I would need you to take off your shirts if I were truly to make a fair comparison. You are correct that there isn’t a Stark on the court, but with me marrying you, there soon will be.” Tony took the time to wiggle his eyebrows at the alphas to truly shock them with a boldness they certainly had not come to expect from omegas. It also has the added benefit of nearly killing Natasha as she tried to contain her laughter at such an unexpected response. 

“Well fuck, Buck. Who knew they would consider an omega not from a Lordship? This certainly is the first time we’ve met an omega and had them demand we remove our shirts, sweetheart. We’re gonna to have more trouble running you off.” Steve was shocked as Tony thought he would be. He almost burst out laughing at the look on James’ face, clearly he was the first omega to ever dare speak to him that way. 

Tony felt a pang of anger at Steve’s casual mention of running him off the marriage, knowing that he would be disappointing not only Royalty, but his own family as well if he didn’t go through with it. It was also incredibly telling to Tony that Steve was so confident in their ability to make him leave that he was as spoiled as he feared they would be. Steve had gotten his way far too long, not taking his role as future alpha king seriously, jeopardizing the future of the kingdom despite his incredible fortune of getting to marry James for love in the first place. Tony felt his scent turn from the playful and flirty one he had to throw the alphas off to angry at the alpha’s selfishness. He narrowed his eyes up at the both of them and sneered.

“I look forward to your pathetic attempts, alpha.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your patience as I go through school work and writing this at the same time. Also thank you for your comments and kudos, it is still surprising that people like the stuff I make up :) I have the idea of omegas in this universe being used to gender neutral clothing as they are considered a more "feminine" gender in the society. Tony is comfortable in what would be considered female clothing, but generally prefers masculine clothing when he's being casual in my mind for this universe. I was picturing Elsa's nightgown from Frozen 2 in red when describing Tony's dress tbh. It was a very fabulous nightgown.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone again who commented and gave kudos! I’m so sorry for the extra long delay in the update, school was finishing up for the summer and I was dying under a chemistry textbook. Hopefully I’ll be able to be more regular now that school is over for now! Please continue to tell me what you think and I hope you enjoy! I also hope everyone is doing well with the state of the world at the moment. Please stay healthy and as happy as possible!

If there was one thing that Howard had taught Tony that he was grateful for, it was how to read alphas. Knowing what alphas were thinking was what made Tony such a great business man. It was easy to swindle distracted alphas into buying more from the forge, they’d all be too focused on his figure or eyes to really question if they needed that extra knife. These skills came in handy when walking with his soon to be alphas. True to Clint’s words, the princes found him attractive. It showed in the way they’d lean into his space when pointing out different flowers in the garden or specific squirrels that would give the royal guards hell. It also showed in the way Steven seemed just a little irritated, it seemed finding Tony attractive was messing with his intentions to get rid of him.  
  
Tony knew he’d win this little game of wills thirty minutes into their little date.  
  
For all that Steven seemed confident in his ability to make Tony flee from the marriage, he was the one Tony knew he would break first. The alpha was remarkably possessive, the blond kept a hand on James’ waist as they trekked throughout the castle’s gardens. Steven’s rumbling and flirting at James was clearly for the purpose of making Tony feel uncomfortable and like he was intruding, but he acted as if he did not notice. It was clearly frustrating to the alpha that his little strategy that worked so well in the past to keep his mate to himself was not working on this omega, he was desperately trying to formulate a new plan.

Tony paid little attention to Steven and focused on James as time went on. This alpha was a little harder to figure out compared to his mate. He was not so obviously upset by Tony’s presence and seemed to be more willing to entertain him while they were forced to get to know each other. Tony gave out little bold touches to James’ hands and even tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear just for the purpose of seeing how far he could push it. Tony was surprised that Steven hadn’t growled at him yet. Tony’s big act was to purposefully trip into the pair on an uneven spot on the path. While they caught him and made sure he was okay, Tony subtly rubbed his cheek across their chests to leave his scent mark on them. It was highly inappropriate for him to do so, but they didn’t seem to notice his scent until after he had done it. Steven was more obviously upset now, having been essentially claimed by the omega he had no intention of marrying.

“Oh please excuse me Your Highnesses, I’m just so unused to walking in these shoes. How embarrassing for me to have tripped into you.” Tony pointed out his delicate, yet completely flat shoes by pulling his skirt up a bit to reveal his calves, knowing that he was really pushing his luck with the two alphas now.  
  
Steven obviously wanted to snap at him until he was distracted at the hint of leg Tony was showing off. James surprised Tony by being the first to let out a hint of a growl at such a bold display. Tony dropped his skirt and sauntered along the path to continue their date, very smug grin in place. Tony caught sight of Natasha out of the corner of his eye and winked at her. She raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a little smirk, and Tony knew that his little schemes to get the alphas interested had worked.

Tony continued to flirt and be sweet to the alphas all throughout the day. They didn’t seem to really appreciate his attention, but Tony could tell they were increasingly appreciating his figure and his scent that he had schooled back into light and flirty. If Tony were still working at the forge, he would probably be able to convince them to get a few extra knives each with the way they had stared at him. 

Steven didn’t seem convinced that he’d lost his little game yet, but Tony could tell James had figured out what was happening. James really was the smarter of the two, Tony had decided. He really had no proof of who was smarter of course, but James was far less hot headed and more observant so far into knowing him. Steven was speaking about something to do with his and James’ training schedule for the coming weeks when Tony caught James running his steel blue eyes over his frame. While James’ gaze held a little bit of heat to it, the purpose of his stare was more curious than anything. Tony met his stare and raised an eyebrow, questioning. James met his question with a shrug.

Interesting. The whole experience was very interesting.

Tony thought about what he had learned about the alphas while he was again surrounded by several ladies who were preparing him for dinner with the entirety of the royal family. James was not as near unwilling about the marriage as Tony imagined he would be. Steven was obviously the little ringleader for the circus of running off omegas. He was possibly just too possessive to share his mate rather than having a disrespect for his duty as a prince. Tony figured he would figure out everything soon enough, but it still rankled his brain to think about how his ending up here was a series of really unfortunate events for everyone.

Tony was changed into a more spectacular outfit for dinner, a deep blue dress that was more voluminous about the skirt than the red one he had been in during the day. A different set of jewelry was placed on him to match. He had more rouge applied to his cheeks and lips and while he guessed it looked good, he more thought he just looked like he was going into heat. That was probably the point. He was delighted when Lady Rogers came to escort him to the dining room. She told him all kinds of compliments that he preened at receiving.

Tony was sat between James and Lady Rogers at the table, which he was grateful for. He wasn't sure how well Steven would react if he were to be in the way of his mate when he looked so grumpy. Tony wondered why he appeared so upset when they parted on amicable terms after lunch. Tony looked around to notice that the King, Queen, and both princes seemed more tense than he had seen them before. It seems that there had been an intense conversation about something before dinner. Tony could only _guess_ what it had been about.

Dinner began very calm with light conversation between everyone about the day that they had. Tony was more focused on speaking with Lady Rogers and Rebecca, the ladies were complimenting him far more than the alphas were so it was obviously the more important conversation. Tony was repeating his earlier shenanigans from breakfast, trying things from other people’s plates, when he made the mistake of leaning over towards James to take something from him. James himself didn’t seem to mind but Steven was not pleased with Tony taking from his mate’s plate.

Tony was startled by a low snarling that was synonymous with angry alpha and immediately retreated back towards his own plate. Everyone at the table looked over at Steven in shock, except for Lady Rogers.

“Steven Grant, I just know you didn’t snarl at the table like an uncouth criminal.” Lady Rogers’ glare bore into Steven, who immediately backed down from his puffed up, indignant stance.

“No, Ma.” Steven looked down towards his plate, angry, but also ashamed at himself in the wake of his mother’s displeasure.

“You’re right, ‘No, Ma’, how dare you act that way towards your betrothed omega! Honestly! Do I need to resume sending you out to work in the stables when you’re acting a fool? Apologise. Now.”

“I apologize.” It was a garbled, grumpy, insincere thing and it was clear that he wouldn’t get anything other than that.

Dinner resumend in an awkward silence that was only broken by the Queen when she mentioned Tony’s wedding dress options that he would need to be fitted for in the coming week leading to the wedding. Of course, an argument broke out. Steven broke out of his somber silence and jumped to claim that they had not come to an agreement on if the wedding was happening yet. James rushed to try and get Steven to calm down for the discussion. Lady Rogers was back to scolding Steven for being rude. Rebecca took the opportunity to mock both of the princes in the chaos, causing Tony to burst into nervous giggles. The Queen was trying to regain control of the table but was unsuccessful until the King let out a low, threatening growl to silence the room.

“The wedding date is set, Steven. I told you that this would be happening. Stop acting like a spoiled child, we allowed you to get away with your little games for far too long and now it is time for you to take responsibility for the position that you have. If it weren’t for your meddling you’d have more choices in which omega you’d get to marry but you’ve sacred everything single option away with your terrible attitude and shenanigans. You’re getting married to Anthony, that’s final.” The King’s tone was chilling to Tony, he had never heard a tone like that that hadn’t resulted in an alpha brawl for dominance. A few tense moments passed before Steven stood up and marched out of the room, James following behind him.

The resulting silence from the outburst was so heavy that Tony felt he was practically suffocating under it. He probably looked ridiculous too because in addition to the rouge flushing his checks, his face felt hot with anger. How dare he? How dare Steven act in this way? Tony had been uprooted from his life to be placed with alphas who didn’t care for him at all because that was his only choice to save his ridiculous father. Steven still had his mate, his home, his mother. Tony let out a soft excuse and stormed off in the direction the wayward princes had gone. It was easy to find them because of how loudly they were arguing. They didn’t notice Tony’s presence until he was right behind them. They were an intimidating sight towering over him and looking outrageously angry but it didn’t stop Tony form slapping Steven in the face.

“You’re pathetic. You may be dissatisfied with me as your future omega but I assure you that I was the one who got the shit end of the stick. How dare you? You live here, in a castle. You got to marry for love, you had a choice! You don’t seem to realize how lucky you are to have had that choice in the first place. I never had a choice, I would have never had a choice regardless of who I was to marry. Why do you get to throw a fit and walk away from your responsibilities like a spoiled child? You’re lucky. You’re so lucky that you don’t live in the real world. If this is how you react to things you don’t want to do, you’d have never made it. Every privilege you have was handed to you. Why are you above an arranged marriage? I hope any children I have the displeasure of carrying for you doesn’t inherit your sense of entitlement.” Tony was in tears at this point, so frustrated and hurt by the situation.

He turned around and practically ran away from the two stunned alphas towards the room he had spent the night previous. When Tony made it to the room he struggled out of the dress and jewelry and threw himself into the bed to feel incredibly sorry for himself. He passed some amount of time in a miserable heap of blankets when a soft knocking came from the door. Lady Rogers and the Queen entered shortly after and gave out pitying coos to the sorry sight he made of smudged eye kohl and rumpled hair. He let out a pathetic whine and allowed them to fuss and coo at him, thankful for some form of comfort.

Tony wished his mother was here.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I have no excuses for the long wait, sorry lol. I hope you enjoy and thank you so much to everyone who leaves and has left a comment or kudos, they make me very happy. :)

Tony woke up the next morning looking and feeling like a bedraggled raccoon. The kohl on his eyes had traveled around his face and his hair had done some truly spectacular acrobatic feats during the night. He laid in bed a bit, feeling sorry for himself and tried to come up with a plan for how today would go. After crawling free from the mess of blankets his bed had become, Tony snuck his way around the royal chambers, noticing that he appeared to be the first one awake, which helped in his intentions in avoiding the royal family. Tony drew himself a bath and did not indulge. He wanted to be quick in case someone were to wake up and confront him about the night before.

He had come to the very rational decision that he would never face the royal family again. 

What was _wrong_ with him? He had slapped a prince! He had yelled at him! He had stormed off into the night to cry into his bed like the omegas in one of his mother’s terrible romance novels! Tony had never felt so angry and hurt in all of his life. Even Howard had never provoked Tony in the way that Steven had managed yesterday. It was like a spell of anger had come over Tony and propelled him into a rage, hellbent on destroying the cause of his ire. Tony briefly considered Steven to be a warlock that had bewitched him into being so angry but he decided that he was just becoming insane instead. 

Having bathed, Tony felt much better. He guiltily wrapped himself into the robe the Queen had given him the other day, taking comfort in the scents of the princes. Despite Tony’s anger with the princes that they had certainly earned, Tony couldn’t deny his attraction to those alphas. Tony was a young omega after all, omegas take comfort in the scent of alphas even if the particular alphas in question could possibly be warlocks. He scurried back towards his room but was startled by the door to the chambers being opened by several servants and Natasha. 

“Well I didn’t expect you to be awake just yet with your little adventure yesterday, pretty omega.” Natasha cooed at Tony while ushering in the servants who were all carrying some familiar boxes.

Tony’s face lit up in a rather vibrant blush at her reminder of last night’s events. “You know about that?”

“Ah yes, the entire castle is in a buzz over your little scuffle with the princes. I’m sure that the princes are absolutely smitten with you by now.” Tony scoffed at her teasing, he was sure _ smitten _ was absolutely the last thing the princes were with him after last night. “Oh don’t discount a bit of drama getting an alpha’s attention, they fell in love with each other fighting, you know.”

“Really? What would they be fighting about?”

“They were young alpha boys, what  _ weren’t _ they fighting about?”

Tony brushed her off and went towards the boxes and crates the servants had left in his room, delighted at seeing they were the boxes that his things had been packed into before he left home. He rummaged through the boxes and was glad to find his work clothes and some special tools he had made for himself together in the same box. He quickly got dressed in his work clothes and rushed out to make sure Natasha was still there.

“Natasha darling, if you would be so kind as to escort me to the forge, I would greatly appreciate it. While the tour of the gardens yesterday was lovely, I’m afraid that the hydrangeas would not be nearly as effective for my plans of avoidance.”

“Avoidance, hmm?”

“I don’t need your judgement! I screamed at and slapped an alpha Prince and apparently the entire castle knows about it! I’m sure I’m going to be judged plenty.” Tony gave a truly impressive pout that he learned from his mother for when he needed to ask Howard for anything. It was mostly successful as Howard was unwilling to have two pouting omegas on his hands, so Tony figured it must work with other alphas who were actually willing to put up with him like Natasha was. 

“Alright you dramatic little thing, let’s go bring you to the forge.”

Tony and Natasha made their way to the forge in a comfortable silence and as soon as Tony laid eyes on all of the material that was available for him to play with, he sort of ignored Natasha’s farewell and went straight to lighting the forge. 

It seemed an emotional and early bedtime was useful in that he’d woken up before a majority of the palace and was able to play around by himself for quite some time. Tony tried to avoid some things that seemed like they were in progress to make sure he wasn’t intruding on another blacksmith’s work. However, any seemingly unclaimed materials were very quickly snatched up and used for the beginnings of his own projects. He had so many plans for things that Howard would’ve never let him make back home. Weapons and repairs were what made up a majority of the family business but Tony never had that great of an interest in weapons. More delicate, decorative metal trinkets were far more interesting to Tony because they were more complicated to make. Tony also tried his hand at inventing things, however trinkets and inventions were not things that would produce any sort of meaningful business in Howard’s eyes. So Tony was stuck with regular old swords and sharpening tools. 

Tony was sure he was working on the beginnings of a dainty little metal rose for hours until he was startled by the arrival of the actual royal blacksmith. 

“Well look what we have here. Isn’t it the most incredible honor to have the most popular omega in the castle working in my forge?” A tall, dark skinned alpha stood at the entrance to the forge. He looked incredibly amused at Tony, who resembled a child with their hands caught deep in the cookie jar. 

Tony started to stammer out some explanation for why he was there and why he was ransacking the material piles for his use when he was interrupted by the blacksmith’s laughter. The blacksmith introduced himself as James Rhodes and assured Tony that it was okay for him to be there and that he could keep working alongside him. It took awhile for Tony to feel less embarrassed over being caught in the forge like he was a mouse in the cupboard and being known all over the castle as the prince’s dramatic new love interest, but he eventually relaxed. Rhodes was sure to give out little teasing remarks about Tony’s new reputation throughout their time together and though Tony didn’t want to admit it to his face, Rhodes was hilarious. 

Tony was comparing techniques with Rhodes over how to get the sharpest edge to a blade when the Queen and Lady Rogers swanned into the forge. They immediately bustled Tony out and away from the forge, much to Tony’s disappointment. He whined and pouted the entire time it took for them to pry him away from his little station. Rhodes was absolutely useless in helping Tony when he pleaded for him to rescue him from the doting omegas. The bastard even had the audacity to laugh and wave at him when he was being dragged out. When Tony saw Natasha accompanying the Ladies he let out a cry of utter betrayal because he knew that she had led them straight to him. Resigned to his fate, Tony allowed the Ladies to lead him to get cleaned up for his wedding dress fitting. 

Tony was quickly bathed, dried, scolded for not eating that day, and dressed into a delicate dressing gown to wait for the royal seamstresses to finish setting up the dresses they had for him to choose from. The dresses were set out on mannequins for him to fully see what they would look like. While all of the dresses were absolutely lovely and were obviously made with the finest of craftsmanship, only one really caught his eye. It was the biggest ball gown that was available with a spectacular train and veil. Golden flowers with precious gems were embroidered throughout the bodice of the dress and tapered off into the white, voluminous skirt. Short, flowy sleeves hung around the mannequin’s shoulders and the neckline dipped a bit to reveal skin under where his collarbones would be. 

Resigned to his fate of being a little dress up doll for the rest of the afternoon, Tony allowed the seamstresses to swarm around him and get him into the gown. There were a few adjustments that needed to be made around the waist of the dress to keep some of the stones from permanently embedding into Tony’s side, but it was beautiful. When Tony saw himself in the mirror with the veil and tiara accompanying the dress he thought he would cry. It was a little sad, he thought, for such a beautiful dress to be wasted on an arranged marriage. He knew so little about them besides that they might find him beautiful. He had thought one of his alphas was a warlock this morning, after all. The loving compliments from the Queen and Lady Rogers served as an amazing distraction from his depressing thoughts. Rebecca’s dramatic entrance into the room was also very distracting. She ramped up the energy of the room, proclaiming his beauty and complaining to her mother that she wasn’t invited earlier to see her soon to be brother in his dress. 

Tony’s mood was lifted for the day by Rebecca’s enthusiasm until he was dressed to attend dinner with the entire family again. Today’s attire included a flowy top and form fitting trousers, a more omega version of an alpha’s formal clothing. Rouge and kohl were again applied to his face along with plenty of jewelry and his hair being styled to be artfully messy. Tony dragged his feet towards the dining hall, dreading meeting everyone when he had made such a huge scene the day before. What Tony wouldn’t give to be back in the forge working on his little metal rose.

Tony shuffled into the room with his head ducked low and made sure that he was not sitting next to either prince. He felt much safer from additional drama between Rebecca and Lady Rogers. Tony felt himself blush when he noticed a red mark on Steven’s face where Tony had hit him. His blush intensified when he noticed that James was watching him. 

Dinner progressed in awkward conversation. Tony tried to avoid drawing any attention to himself but was drawn into a conversation with Rebecca about some mundane things. He was successful in avoiding the princes until everyone was getting up to head to their rooms to relax until they got ready for bed. They cornered him in the same nook he attacked them in the day before and seemed like they were prepared for another dramatic event in the way that their shoulders were hunched.

“Hey there, darlin’. I believe that we have some unfinished business from yesterday. And Stevie here has something that he needs to say to ya.” James was very gentle in his approach, but was not at all gentle when he was addressing Steven. His tone of voice made a warning very clear. 

Tony raised an eyebrow at them, not trusting himself to keep a calm tone of voice quite yet. 

“Listen sweetheart,” Tony scoffed at the endearment, “I’m sorry that I upset you yesterday. I think we’re all on the same page here that this wedding is real sudden and none of us had a lot of time to process that it’s happening. I don’t want us to fight forever. We’re gonna be married after all. We’re supposed to have babies together. I hope we can at least be friends.” Steven seemed to be sincere even though his apology was less than satisfactory.

“Oh well I’m so glad you feel bad that I was upset and not that you were a total knothead.” Tony muttered bitterly.

James chuckled at Tony’s retort and Tony blushed clear to his ears, not realizing that he had spoken that loudly. 

“Well he’s got your number, Stevie. Gonna have to make it up to him after we’re married.” 

“Alright, alright. We’ll talk later then. Hopefully we can avoid giving me another bruise while we’re at it too.” Steven and James gently took his hands and gave the back of them a kiss each. They quietly wished him goodnight. They started down the corridor, probably in the direction of their room. 

Tony stood there and watched them go, frustrated. He was supposed to still be mad at the two of them and after a half-assed apology and a little bit of affection, Tony felt ready to swoon. 

Unacceptable. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is lol. Again, thank you to everyone who has left a comment or a kudos and thank you in advance to those who leave them on this chapter. Sorry I am a slow updater, that's just kinda how it is for me I think.   
> Enjoy!

The following days were a whirlwind of activity. Tony was rushed from place to place in the palace to approve things for the wedding and to get ready for the wedding. He would have liked to stay longer at the cake tasting but once a flavor had been selected, he had been dragged off to select his bouquet arrangement despite his fervent whining at Lady Rogers and the Queen. He hadn’t been able to go to the forge since the first time and he was very grumpy about it. The little rose that he was working on was just sitting there, neglected, alone. Tony knew that it didn’t really have feelings but  _ he _ had feelings and he was feeling guilty that he was abandoning his work when he had just started. 

Tony was lounging on the couch in his room following the final fitting for his dress that morning trying to figure out how to escape. He had simply had enough of this planning and he was not going to his beauty appointment. Tony was beautiful enough and he wanted to work in the forge. Now he just had to practice saying that to his very convincing ladies in waiting when they eventually caught up to him. Tony rushed to get his work clothes on while he could still escape without them knowing and started to make his way to the forge. He imagined he would get at least an hour of work in while the ladies figured out he wasn’t coming and hunted him down to force him to get all prettied up. 

He was nearly at the forge when he heard sounds of sword fighting. Ever a curious person, Tony decided to sacrifice some of his time to investigate what was happening. He walked around a corner of the outdoor path and found a clearing that appeared to be used for training soldiers if the people running around and sparring were an indication. A certain pair of alphas caught Tony’s eye as he scanned the area. Good  _ lord _ that was a whole lot of alpha on display. From where he was standing he couldn’t really make out their faces but Sam and Thor’s playful taunts carried over the yard where they were sparring. The alphas were shirtless, giving Tony a very good look at muscles and the powerful, smooth movements of well trained soldiers. 

Tony tore his eyes away from the beautiful display of strength for a moment to see if he could find Natasha or Clint anywhere when he saw a group of castle servants. They were all giggling as some soldiers were obviously showing off for their benefit. Tony briefly considered going to join them to take in the show when he heard his name being called. Turning around to look revealed James prowling over towards him, also gloriously shirtless and sweaty from training. 

“Are ya lost, sweetheart? I didn’t think you were shown the training grounds yet.” 

“I feel a little cheated about that, honestly. I mean, it’s  _ quite _ the sight.” Tony couldn't help but tease him, feeling mischievous as he purposefully stared over at Sam and Thor. 

“Well don’t let Stevie catch ya down here taking in all the eye candy, he’s a jealous little guy.” James was being playful, but Tony’s mood still soured at the mention of Steven.

“Ha, that’s a laugh. He doesn’t want to get married to me, I don’t think he should get to be upset at me looking at alphas that might  _ actually _ like me.”

James deflated a little and sighed, “Yeah darlin’, we don’t really got a good track record with ya so far, do we?”

Tony scoffed, ready to maybe smack this alpha around too when James continued, “I know it’s not an excuse, and you shouldn’t forgive the punk until he apologizes good and proper, but he’s never had to really experience anything having to do with an arranged marriage. He wasn’t raised to be a prince, to have the sense of responsibility that comes with that. My parents are arranged, ya know? I knew that I would probably have an omega picked for me and I made peace with that years ago. He hasn’t. Stevie, as much as I love him, is the most hard-headed knothead that I know and when he gets ideas into his head about how something will go for him, very few things short of a miracle can get through to him and change his mind.” 

While it was a good explanation on the surface Tony was still unimpressed with the alpha, even if he was  _ very _ good looking shirtless, “Why the hell have you let him run off every other omega before me then? You’re still neglecting your responsibilities allowing him to throw his tantrums!”

James huffed a self deprecating sort of laugh, “Yeah, there’s that too. Well to be perfectly honest darlin’, I didn’t really care for any of those omegas neither. Nothin’ against them, but we’re not a delicate sort of people, Tony. We can’t be soft or gentle every day and I just know that those omegas need that sort of treatment we won’t be able to provide for ‘em.”

“And you’re not going to be soft or gentle with  _ me _ ?”

A more genuine laugh this time, “The way you whacked Stevie is proof enough you’re no delicate little thing needing soft or gentle all the time, doll,” James stepped forward, bringing Tony closer to eye level with his shirtless chest with a gentle hand on his hip, “I know you don’t have good reason to believe me now, but I promise you that I’ll be good to you and I’ll keep Stevie in line to the best of my ability until he comes around. I’m sure you’ll be able to reign him in for me if you need to too. Now you better run before those ladies catch ya. Have a good day, sweetheart.” James pressed a soft kiss to Tony’s forehead in farewell, smirking at the flush that took over Tony’s face. 

Tony glanced behind him and saw that his ladies in waiting were indeed approaching and scurried off towards the forge, squeaking out a farewell to James as he made his escape. Tony did not want to spend any time processing his emotions regarding those alphas today. They got off to a rough start and Tony knew he had to make them work towards his affections rather than give it to them right away, but they made it hard on him looking so nice and smelling so nice and being so nice. Tony thought there was a lot to unpack about himself if he was so willing to forgive the blockheads right away. His father issues might be a contributing factor. Oh dear.

“Hide me. Hide me, Rhodes! Don’t let them know that I’m here!” Tony dashed behind the blacksmith, ducking under his workbench and curling up, hoping to avoid their detection. He held his breath as he heard the group approach and ask Rhodes if he’d seen him. Tony only released his breath a few seconds after he heard them leave. “Oh lord. Thank you my dear Rhododendron flower! Oh my savoir! How can I ever repay you for saving me from the ladies’ evil clutches?” 

Tony crawled out from under the bench while Rhodes laughed at him. “How’s it going little omega? Wedding prep getting you down?” 

“Ah shut up, I’m free for the first time in days! Let’s get to work! Your workmanship is lovely but you can get up to my level in no time I guarantee it!” 

Tony had nearly the rest of the day in the forge to play around. He made excellent progress on his rose and Rhodes was excellent company. Tony had never had someone to work with in the forge that actually enjoyed his company before. It was nice to have a friend that he could relate to in this way. Jarvis and his mother were always kind and doting to him, but they never had any interest in Tony’s work or understood it when he tried to explain his processes. The omegas in his village that were his age never bothered to interact with him either. Tony was just too strange for their liking. Howard had understood the work, but he’d never really understood Tony or appreciated his efforts. Rhodes was the best of both worlds and even took Tony’s suggestions when they were working on some weapons the soldiers had damaged during training. The rest of the day was amazing and he only had to hide from the ladies two more times to ensure that he could keep working. 

It was only when dinner time was approaching that he was caught by the Queen and Lady Rogers. His hiding was ineffective as the omegas were able to tell Rhodes was lying that he hadn’t seen Tony that day. It was either the fact that Rhodes was far more scared of them than he was the ladies or the fact that they were mothers that they were able to see right through his attempts to hide Tony. Tony was dragged from under the bench whining and trying to hold onto Rhodes to stay put. All the effort was for nothing of course, Tony was quickly ushered away with a quick goodbye to Rhodes. 

Tony wasn’t really too put out by being brought to dinner, he had a good day at the forge and it was enough to recharge him for the formalities he had to go through before the wedding. He received a playful tongue lashing from his future mothers in law for escaping his appointments for the day. They were more impressed with his escaping than they were angered with him though, so Tony was fine with the light scolding and manhandling into an outfit for dinner. 

The days following his delightful escape were still full of wedding prep, but he was able to negotiate several hours of forge time out of the Queen and Lady Rogers. They figured it was best to avoid losing an entire day of prep again when Tony was fed up and wanted to try his hand at escaping again. Tony was very proud of himself for his logic and convincing them. However, the true test of his patience came when the rehearsals started. The wedding was tomorrow, and Tony had yet to really speak to his alphas without feeling some type of flustered or resolving their terrible first encounters. 

For the most part, they sat in an awkward silence during their rehearsal dinner and when welcoming the royal court for the upcoming festivities. Tony was all dolled up in a red and gold ballgown for the occasion, a pretty little compliment to his alphas dressed in navy and gold ensembles. He knew that he would be marrying into a royal family, but it hadn’t settled into his mind the amount of wealth that would be available to him until that dinner. Most everyone around Tony were used to the extravagance that surrounded them, Tony was much more content to be surrounded by the dirt and grime of the forge. That wouldn’t be his life anymore however. He would have a lot more to his name than being just the blacksmith’s odd omega son. 

He’d be the odd omega queen. 

  
  



End file.
